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| Tonewood & Musical Instrument Wood Information | |||
| © Darrell Young | |||
| Tone Woods - and Woods Commonly Used in Musical Instrument Construction | |||
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| Agathis | |||
| Family: Agathis Agathis trees occur gregariously and are locally abundant in Sarawak Malaysia, often forming dense and nearly pure stands in many locations.The timber is light in weight and is classified as softwood, not because the wood is soft, but because it belongs to a taxonomic group of gymnosperm. The wood is excellent for solid instrument bodies, furniture components, face veneers, joinery works, and pattern-making items. It is a tropical pine wood. Agathis trees occur as large and emergent trees reaching up to 85m in height and 1.Sm in diameter. Occurring in pure stand or mixed stand, each tree grows upright, bearing small and compact crowns with usually over 80% of its bole being clear of branches. Due to its abundance coupled with its excellent bole form, Agathis wood constitutes the main tree species used for building houses in Bario. Since the climatic and environmental conditions of this area is conducive for growth of this particular species, tree plantations can potentially be established to sustain its production both for domestic and commercial uses. The tree is distinguishable from other species by its bark appearance, bole form and large diameter. The Agathis tree is known by a variety of vernacular names in many parts of Malaysia. The native Kelabit call it “Tumu” but generally it is known as “Bindang” in Sarawak. It is called “Damar Minyak” in Peninsular Malaysia, “Manggilan” in Sabah and “Tulong” in Brunei. There are also a number of synonym botanical names for this tree species including Agathis alba, Foxw, and Agathis damara. |
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| Ash | |||
Family: Fraxinus More Information coming soon. Please return! |
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| Ebony | |||
| Information coming soon. Please return! | |||
| Sonokeling (Black Rosewood) | |||
| Family: Dalbergia Similar to ebony in hardness, sonokeling has an excellent grain for carving. It is chocolate in color, sometimes with lighter colored stripes. It is an expensive wood, because the tree needs to be about 200 years old to produce a good large log. This is one of the reasons why carvings in this wood are rather rare.
Native to India, sonokeling is called Black Rosewood in English. The Indonesian Department of Forestry has encouraged the planting of sonokeling trees in Java and in Bali. |
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| Spruce | |||
More Information coming soon. Please return!
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| Mahogany | |||
Mahogany
has a unique spiral structure to the grain, which is the reason it is
so stable and strong. Also, some mahogany is strikingly beautiful. |
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| Nato | |||
| Family:
Leguminosa
Nato is a South American hard wood, similar to mahogany. It's the current "budget" wood. That doesn't mean that it is a bad or cheap wood. At one time, mahogany was considered the cheap alternative, and nobody knew how well it would do in the long run. Now mahogony is considered a 'fine' wood. Could Nato be the next mahogany? Only time will tell. The Nato tree is usually 100 to 120 ft high and 2 to 3 ft in diameter, with clear boles 60 ft and more above very large buttresses that may extend 15 ft up the trunk. Nato trees of 160 to 200 ft high and 4 ft in diameter are reported. The Wood's General Characteristics: Heartwood yellowish red brown, reddish brown or dark red with paler streaks, sapwood 2 to 6 in. wide, distinct, yellowish to pale brown. Texture moderately fine to rather coarse, rather harsh to the feel; luster medium to high; grain is straight to commonly interlocked, very variable; astringent taste and slightly sour odor.
Weight: Basic specific gravity (oven-dry weight/green volume) 0.76 to 0.84; air-dry density 59 to 65 pcf. Other Common Names: Nato, Nato rojo (Colombia), Mora de Guyana (Venezuela), Marobukea, Mora (Guyana), Mora Moraboekea (Surinam), Pracuuba (Brazil). Distribution: M. excelsa: Widely distributed in the Guianas and less so in the Orinoco Delta of Venezuela; dominant on river levees and flood plains forming dense stands. M. gonggrijpii: Restricted to Guyana and Surinam, a dominant species best adapted to hillsides on heavy clay soils. |
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| Maple | |||
| Family: Acer
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| Poplar | |||
| Information coming soon. Please return! | |||
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